The Official Michael Jackson Opus Reviews

The Official Michael Jackson OPUS is the only new publication approved and endorsed by the Estate of Michael Joseph Jackson. With over 400 pages of stunning and never-before-seen photographs plus personal, heartfelt essays written exclusively for this OPUS by those who knew Michael best and respected him most. This one-of-a-kind tribute book will help fans treasure the memory of an extraordinary person and performer.

This review is from: The Official Michael Jackson Opus (Leather Bound)

Here’s an example of how dizzying excitement can turn into disappointment: Kraken Opus overhyped this book as such a rare piece of MJ history, constantly pushing the preorders, only to turn around and sell it at online bookstores for over $100 less! Even though I got mine for $165 (plus $30 shipping), I still could’ve saved about $40 had I ordered it here. Additionally, perhaps this is the regular size of an opus, but THIS was an opus that was constantly toted as a “coffee table book”. This is not a coffee table book. This is a coffee table. It comes up to my knee (I’m 5’9″), and is not only heavy, but LARGE, a very uncomfortable carry. Additionally, the digital extras – the one thing I was MOST excited about – are nowhere to be found. Supposedly they’re coming later. Well, supposedly this was a rare, must-have, and supposedly, it was full of never-before-seen pictures, and supposedly…you get the idea.

What goes into a 400-page, 30-lb book? Not a whole lot. Most of this is stuff that you already know: Michael came from humble Indiana roots, performed with the Jackson 5, broke away to do Off the Wall, was a genius, redefined music and dance as we know it, blah blah blah. Most of the exclusive pictures are variations of pictures that you’ve already seen. Or there may be a page full of pictures on one film-like sheet, most of them extremely similar, if not identical. Most disappointingly, there aren’t any real “behind-the-scenes” pictures OR insight; no pics of Michael just relaxing and being Michael. Nearly all of them are MICHAEL JACKSON, the performer, but none of Mike, or MJ, or Smelly, or whatever his friends called him. There aren’t even many photos of Michael the humanitarian. NO photos of him from the set of The Wiz or Captain Eo, only a few of his video shoots (and I do mean a FEW), and yet there are so many pictures of him standing on his toes in a fedora that I could scream. Speaking of Scream, one thing I was really, REALLY looking forward (other than those digital photos) were some pictures from the set of Scream, because the (few) shots in color are so beautiful. But while there are tons of pics of Michael on the set, there’s only one of Michael and Janet, and they’re covered in silly string. Aside from photos of his J5 days, there are virtually no pictures of his family, not even his mother or children. An entire chapter dedication to MJ’s fashion sense, but not even 10 pages about his family – whom, by most accounts, he loved very much? There are lots of pictures of commissioned art pieces of Michael – most with a Peter Pan motif – and some fan art. In fact, there’s probably more art than pics of all of his family combined – and that includes the Jackson 5.

One of the main reasons why I bought this opus is because I refuse to buy anything that continues to perpetuate the LIES told about MJ, but I wasn’t exactly looking for little more than a walk down memory lane. The reason why we buy these thing is BECAUSE we want to know more – more about his work and his vision. What inspired him? How did he come up with so many amazing ideas, time after time? What did he think about his own work? What drove him to continue to work so hard when far lesser “legends” would’ve rested on their laurels? If you’re going to interview a bunch of people who supposedly knew this man, tell me a little bit more than his love for practical jokes and Charlie Chaplin!

Supposedly (there’s that word again) Michael was working w/Kraken Opus for this project. I seriously doubt this is what Michael actually had in mind, because as we saw with “This Is It”, Michael knows what his fans want to see. I’m sure he also knew what his fans had already seen, and if there’s one thing Michael would never do, it’s sell the same old thing to his audience. With every page turn, I found myself growing more and more disappointed and frustrated; towards the end, I was just browsing, very relieved that I hadn’t embarrassed myself by taking it to the Christmas party (full of MJ fans). If you want to read a buttload of anecdotes full of information you already know from people who may or may not have even met Michael or seen him any time this century, go for it. If you’re looking for a book far too heavy to carry around that you’ll probably just store under your bed, this is it. But I can honestly say, without a drop of bias, that you’re better off buying a few of the well-done MJ tributes on the newsstands – tributes that are nice enough to keep on your coffee table, and practical enough to scan all those lovely photos. As for me…anybody wanna buy an opus?

This review is from: The Official Michael Jackson Opus (Leather Bound)

I just finished reading MJ’s Opus. What struck me was it’s totally positive. Not a word about the troubles he faced. The table of contents goes right to the essence of his being. Here are the names of the chapters; Child Star, Voice, Composer, Moonwalk (discussed him as an innovator of dance), Vision (discussed how he was so incredibally progressive ), One Glove (How he used fashion to build himself into a global icon), Friend, Heart (his humanitarian efforts), Art Lover, and Global Icon. There are tons never before seen of high quality photos. There are also plenty of photos you have seen before but have more in the photo because they haven’t been cropped. There are no photos that have the most important part (like MJ”s face) in the spine of the book. I only learned a few new things about MJ but what was presented was done so in a very eloquent way. My favorite contribution in the book was written by the person who won the essay contest put out by the […] website. It’s on page 393. The contest topic was “What Does Michael’s Legacy Mean to You?” The 25 year old winner had a really good handle on what MJ was all about. She has a future as a writer. I also liked the fan art. I think it is what MJ would have wanted in the book. Some of the fan art isn’t all that great but MJ loved his fans talented or not. Of the 26 fan art pictures, I liked about 1/2 of them. There is one I absolutely love. He is dressed like Peter Pan. He’s on his toes with knees bent like the dance pose we so often see. The background is wooded with mountains in the distance. There are butterflies around his head and a blimp type airship. That artist has promise. She captured the essence of MJ. Before I read that these were fan art I thought that one was done by Giorgio or Nordahl the artists MJ had commisioned to do art work for him. The book itself weighs 16 1/2 pounds; with the case it weighs 23 pounds. I weighed it. So it does not weigh as much as they say in the media.

I can’t wait to get the video reality card Opus has promised. I hope the footage is never before seen footage. Another addition that would have been nice is having the text in the book duplicated in a smaller paperback and included with the big book. It was a pain in the rear trying to read from such a huge book. I would have liked to curl up in bed and read instead of bending over a coffee table. If you want to know more about MJ’s molestation charges read Redemption by Geraldine Hughes and The Michael Jackson Conspiracy by Aphrodite Jones. My heart breaks when I think what the media did to such a sweet, loving, and caring man. Until I got to know who MJ was, I did not believe in God. Now I know there has to be a God. Someone like MJ is not put on this earth by accident.

This review is from: The Official Michael Jackson Opus (Leather Bound)

NEGATIVES:

1. Incorrect dates. I’ve noticed a few of them. 1979 is very different from 1984, right? This makes me think that either this was a very hurried effort – i.e. “Get it out there while people are still interested in his death!” or that it just wasn’t proofread properly. Either way – not good. Not for hundreds of dollars – and not for what should be the most accurate, sort of encyclopedic text on the man in existence.

2. Some of the choices for testimonials are a little questionable – like they couldn’t find anyone better to comment on his fashion sense than Kimora Lee Simmons?

3. Photo Quality. Most of these photos look fuzzy. You would think they would be really crisp and high resolution on this beautiful glossy paper. Some of the photos of the paintings are much too blurry to see details. In the description it says something like “There’s Janet Jackson, as a fairy in the foreground” – but then you look where this fairy is, and she’s pretty much just a blur.

4. The Art Lover section. I personally enjoy these paintings, and I think some of them are funny and cute, but honestly these paintings, and the testimonials from the artists don’t really do much in the way of making him look anything close to sane. I guess it doesn’t really matter at this point.

5. Fan Art? Yeah… don’t care. Sorry. Would rather have more pictures, or writing from Michael, quotes from him, more scanned documents or notes, some kind of timeline – any pertinent information would be more appreciated than that.

POSITIVES:

1. It’s seriously HUGE. It really is impressive, and heavy. It feels like something grand that you would spend a lot of money on. The red cloth-covered box it comes in looks great, as well as the brush-stroke-style illustration on it.

2. There are many photos in it I hadn’t seen before, and I’ve seen a lot of them.

3. The organization. I feel they covered all the main aspects of Michael Jackson as an artist and public figure. Childhood Stardom, Composing, Dancing, Singing, Humanitarianism, Videos, Fashion, Lover of Art… each one is accompanied by a spread of all red with another custom brush illustration as well to go with the section.

4. Some of the testimonials from and friends/associates are a little insightful if you read between the lines.

5. Michael would LOVE this book if he could see it (I think).

6. A real tribute to Michael is always nice to see. People think he’s getting all these tributes left and right, maybe they think it’s too many – but for long-time fans, he’s been reviled and humiliated for the past 15 years in his own country, and it’s nice for us to see fitting and loving public tributes to him – even if they are too late.